TeachersFirst's Weather - Science Resources
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Explore this editor's choice list of resources related to the weather. Read the descriptions to find out whether a site sounds right for what you want to know. Some sites may be more challenging reading, while others may offer solid basic information. Be sure to try several sources.
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Climate Kids - NASA
Grades
3 to 6
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Learn about climate change through games, articles, and interactives at Climate Kids. Choose from different aspects of climate change including oceans or plants and animals, or use...more
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Learn about climate change through games, articles, and interactives at Climate Kids. Choose from different aspects of climate change including oceans or plants and animals, or use links at the top of the page to choose the type of activity. In addition to student activities, this site features information and ideas for teaching about climate change.
tag(s): air (146), animals (320), carbon (23), climate (93), climate change (70), energy (210), oceans (166), plants (176), weather (205)
In the Classroom
Include Climate Kids with any unit on weather, oceans, or climate change. Share the site on your interactive whiteboard to feature specific games and activities for your students. The entire site may be overwhelming for younger students; instead of creating a link to the main site, create separate links to games and activities on classroom computers and on your class website. Upon completion of your unit, have students create a simple infographic sharing information about climate change using Piktochart, reviewed here. Have students take pictures of your local environment, then create an annotated image sharing potential effects of climate change, including text boxes and related links, using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here.
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SciJinks: Its All About Weather! - NOAA/NASA
Grades
3 to 12
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SciJinks offers informative articles and games geared toward middle school students as they learn about weather, satellite meteorology, and Earth science. Use the list on the left side...more
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SciJinks offers informative articles and games geared toward middle school students as they learn about weather, satellite meteorology, and Earth science. Use the list on the left side of the page to choose from topics, answers, find games, learn about people, and much more. Select the Topics section to find many ideas for use in science classrooms including content aligned to Next Generation Science Standards.
tag(s): atmosphere (29), careers (146), hurricanes (40), oceans (166), science fairs (25), scientific method (66), scientists (69), seasons (35), space (226), weather (205)
In the Classroom
Although geared toward middle school students and educators, anyone who teaches weather will want to take the time to explore this site for student and teacher resources. Use the educators section to find activities, science fair ideas, and content aligned to standards. Share the people portion of the site during your career exploration activities. Share a link to games and activities on classroom computers and your class website. Upon completing activities, have students create an online or printed comic about an element of weather, climate, meteorology, or any aspect of Earth science. Use a tool such as Printable Comic Strip Templates, reviewed here, for a nontech rough and final draft. If you're new to using technology with your students, or teach younger students you may want to use ToonyTool, reviewed here, for their final drafts. For more experienced, older students try Write Comics, reviewed here.
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Wild Weather Adventure - NOAA/NASA
Grades
2 to 7
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Race around the world in your research blimp to play against your friends or the computer as you answer weather and map-related questions. Different levels provide choices for easy,...more
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Race around the world in your research blimp to play against your friends or the computer as you answer weather and map-related questions. Different levels provide choices for easy, medium, and hard multiple-choice questions. The first blimp to cross the finish line wins!
tag(s): hurricanes (40), weather (205)
In the Classroom
Include Wild Weather Adventure as a center activity as part of your weather unit. Encourage students to choose questions from different levels of difficulty. Share a link to the game on your class website for students to play at home. If you are new to integrating technology in your class, you may want to have students create a simple infographic sharing their learning using Piktochart, reviewed here. If you are more experienced having your students use technology, you may want to give them a choice to report out thier learning with a custom poster, presentation, flyer or infographic, using Canva, reviewed here.
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Weather-Ready Nation - National Weather Service
Grades
K to 12
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Weather-Ready Nation provides weather safety information and forecasts along with all of the latest weather news. Choose the weather safety link to learn about specific weather threats...more
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Weather-Ready Nation provides weather safety information and forecasts along with all of the latest weather news. Choose the weather safety link to learn about specific weather threats such as lightning safety and hurricanes. This site also includes seasonal safety campaigns featuring information and tips for dealing with seasonal weather. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. You could always view them at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as Freemake Video Converter, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube.
tag(s): fire (27), floods (12), hurricanes (40), safety (91), snow (20), tornadoes (17), tsunamis (18), weather (205)
In the Classroom
Share a link to Weather-Ready Nation on classroom computers for students to explore on their own. Include information from the site during your weather unit. Discuss weather threats that are specific to your area. Take advantage of the free flyer to print and include on a classroom bulletin board. Have students create annotated images of weather events including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create daily weather forecast videos using Powtoon, reviewed here, and share them on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here.
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When Nature Strikes: Science of Natural Hazards - NBC Learn
Grades
5 to 12
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Explore the science behind the world's worst natural disasters. These ten videos are hosted by Dr. Marshall Shepherd of the University of Georgia and The Weather Channel in partnership...more
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Explore the science behind the world's worst natural disasters. These ten videos are hosted by Dr. Marshall Shepherd of the University of Georgia and The Weather Channel in partnership with NBC Learn and the National Science Foundation. Topics include Wildfires, Volcanoes, Tsunamis, Tornadoes, Space Weather, Landslides, Hurricanes, Flash Floods, and Earthquakes. Videos are approximately 5 to 6 minutes in length and include transcripts. Scientists' interviews explain the stunning scenes of nature's havoc. Although part of a larger site that charges for access, these videos are free.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): earthquakes (51), floods (12), hurricanes (40), natural disasters (21), scientists (69), tornadoes (17), tsunamis (18), volcanoes (67), weather (205)
In the Classroom
Use this site as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce a unit or lesson on the weather. Divide students into cooperative learning groups to explore the site. Have each group choose a video to use as a launching pad for further study. Challenge them to use TurboNote, reviewed here, which is a Chrome extension for taking notes online on the video while watching it. Have students create an annotated, narrated image, including text boxes and related links, using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here. Place the videos on your classroom website or blog for students to explore on their own. Flip your instruction, and have your scientists watch the videos before class time to build background knowledge. Review nonfiction reading strategies with students before reading the transcripts. Have students investigate STEM careers by researching the jobs of the scientists interviewed in the videos.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Owlie Skywarn - National Weather Service
Grades
K to 5
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Learn Science and Weather Safety with Owlie Skywarn, a site produced by the National Weather Service. Begin with Fun With Owlie and read Owlie's Journal. Participate in a Weather Ready...more
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Learn Science and Weather Safety with Owlie Skywarn, a site produced by the National Weather Service. Begin with Fun With Owlie and read Owlie's Journal. Participate in a Weather Ready Activity for emergency preparedness. Master the weather game to become a young meteorologist or make a copy of Flat Owlie to take with you in any weather! Be sure also to check out the sections for parents and teens with many resources for teaching and learning about weather.
tag(s): weather (205)
In the Classroom
Print and share Flat Owlies with your students to send on travels around the country and the world. Ask travelers to share pictures of Flat Owlie in different types of weather. Include activities from this site with your weather unit. Use Owlie's Journal as a model for creating a class weather journal. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, have students create weather blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Loose Leaves, reviewed here. This blog creator requires no registration. If you are teaching younger students and looking for an easy way to integrate technology and check for understanding, challenge your students to create a blog using EasyBlog, reviewed here.Take daily pictures of the weather outside your classroom and create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here.
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Interactives & Simulations: Weather, Climate & Atmosphere Education - UCAR Center for Science Education
Grades
5 to 12
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This site provides a small, but worthwhile, selection of interactives and simulations related to the weather and climate. Choose from interesting activities such as launching a virtual...more
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This site provides a small, but worthwhile, selection of interactives and simulations related to the weather and climate. Choose from interesting activities such as launching a virtual balloon to examining layers of the earth's atmosphere, or "building" a tree using different climate options. Each activity includes a full explanation and many include additional links or extension activities.
tag(s): arctic (46), atmosphere (29), carbon dioxide (15), climate (93), climate change (70), hurricanes (40), solar energy (40), sun (69), trees (30)
In the Classroom
Introduce Interactives & Simulations on an interactive whiteboard or projector then allow students to explore on their own. Be sure to provide a link on your class website or blog for students to explore at home. Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here, to demonstrate information learned from this site. Alternatively students could create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as Wordle, reviewed here, or WordItOut, reviewed here.
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Aim a Hurricane - University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Grades
4 to 12
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Learn how winds work together to determine where a hurricane will strike with this online interactive. Click next and begin play. Move low and high-pressure systems in place with the...more
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Learn how winds work together to determine where a hurricane will strike with this online interactive. Click next and begin play. Move low and high-pressure systems in place with the hurricane over the Atlantic Ocean. Correctly position all three to receive a start button and view the storm track for your location. Use check boxes to turn audio off and on and to view with or without winds.
tag(s): hurricanes (40), weather (205)
In the Classroom
Use this site on a projector or interactive whiteboard to discuss and informally assess prior knowledge at the start of the study of hurricanes and weather. Create a link to Aim a Hurricane on classroom computers for student use as a center. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Easel.ly, reviewed here, or Venngage reviewed here. Have students create maps using Animaps, reviewed here, to track hurricanes during hurricane season. With Animaps, students can add text, images, and location stops!
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Riding the Winds with Kalani - University of Illinois Extension
Grades
K to 3
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Take a Ride with Kalani, the weather balloon, to learn all about weather. Learn about the sun, seasons, and clouds. Turn the sound on or off to hear the weather ...more
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Take a Ride with Kalani, the weather balloon, to learn all about weather. Learn about the sun, seasons, and clouds. Turn the sound on or off to hear the weather story or read on you own. Choose from many different activities and games to supplement and enhance information in the weather story. Teacher Resources include suggested activities, links to worksheets and coloring pages, and correlation to Illinois State Standards. Choose from several language options to view and hear the site in English, Spanish, Chinese, or Korean.
tag(s): seasons (35), sun (69), temperature (33), weather (205)
In the Classroom
Riding the Winds with Kalani is perfect for use on your interactive whiteboard or projector. View the weather presentation together then allow students to complete activities as a Science Center. Use this site as a supplement to your current weather or seasons unit. This site is perfect for use with ESL/ELL students. Allow them to explore this site as it is presented to them in their native language.
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Sky Diary - Chris Kidler
Grades
2 to 7
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Sky Diary offers facts for students about hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning, and storm chasing. Choose the link to each of the topics to find quick facts such as how tornadoes or ...more
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Sky Diary offers facts for students about hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning, and storm chasing. Choose the link to each of the topics to find quick facts such as how tornadoes or hurricanes form, measuring intensity of hurricanes and tornadoes, or safety precautions. The storm chasing portion of the site offers insight into a typical storm chase, reality vs tv, and how to become a storm chaser. This simple site contains a great deal of useful weather information for classroom use.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): careers (146), hurricanes (40), tornadoes (17), weather (205)
In the Classroom
Share information from the site on your interactive whiteboard during weather, career, or storm preparedness units. Challenge students to create an avatar using a photo or other image (legally permitted to be reproduced). The avatars can be used to explain the development of hurricanes or tornadoes, or severe weather safety instructions. Use a site such as FotoFlexer, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mother Nature Network: Earth Matters - MNN Holdings, LLC
Grades
4 to 12
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Find information and recent news about the environment, energy, animals, weather, environmental politics, and more. Search various topics through the drop down menu. Click on headlines...more
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Find information and recent news about the environment, energy, animals, weather, environmental politics, and more. Search various topics through the drop down menu. Click on headlines in the Latest News section. Images found in the Photo Galleries are impressive. Search through videos and articles, as well as blogger columns.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animals (320), climate change (70), earth (223), earth day (104), energy (210), environment (322), natural resources (58), nuclear energy (25), politics (98), solar energy (40), space (226), weather (205)
In the Classroom
Click on each topic for more information. For example, Choosing Energy shows latest news related to energy alone. Use the spectacular images as writing prompts or to encourage discussions. Find incredible photographic lists to use as a writing prompt and for further research. Research more information under the Learn more section. Use the information for research, understanding issues involved with the environment, for questioning the natural world, and to encourage action. Reading specialists can find informational reading passages to use for practice with reading comprehension. Clear out clutter on the page with the article using the Readability tool, reviewed here. Then share the article on interactive whiteboard for students to use the pens to annotate main idea, etc. In science class, have students read an article of choice and create a public service announcement type assignment. Consider using Tildee, reviewed here. With Tildee students can use text, screen shots, and video to develop their public service announcement. Be sure to provide a link of this site on your website or a classroom computer for easy access.
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CWSU National Map - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (U.S. Gov.)
Grades
2 to 12
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This interactive weather map of the U.S., Mexico and Canada allows you to mouse over any location to see current conditions including temperature, wind chill, visibility, dew point,...more
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This interactive weather map of the U.S., Mexico and Canada allows you to mouse over any location to see current conditions including temperature, wind chill, visibility, dew point, etc. Most "dots" are local airports. With a click on the desired station, a history of the current weather conditions for the last few days pops up, showing the information in a linear table. In addition, there are graphs above the table of temperature/dewpoint and relative humidity. Under other tabs on this page are aerial weather information observations, forecasts, and other more technical weather information. This is a great source for seeing a variety of graphs and their practical applications.
tag(s): charts and graphs (197), weather (205)
In the Classroom
Use this site as an introduction to study of graphs, meteorology, and information application. Aspiring meteorologists will find plenty of new vocabulary to learn here. To show what they have learned from this site, challenge students to create an online graphic to share using DesignBold, reviewed here. Remember that you can always take screenshots of a map using PrtScrn key in Windows (then paste it where you want it) or using Command+Shift+4 on a Mac to save the image on your computer. Use the screenshots in explanations and presentations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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WeatherSpark - WeatherSpark.com
Grades
6 to 12
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Find beautiful weather graphics from a location of your choice. Choose your location and NOAA data is populated on interactive graphs. View the current Doppler weather conditions. Also...more
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Find beautiful weather graphics from a location of your choice. Choose your location and NOAA data is populated on interactive graphs. View the current Doppler weather conditions. Also view the history going back up to a year. Click on "Select Graphs" to choose data to be shown such as Sun, Clouds, Precipitation type/amount/rate, Temperature, Humidity, and Pressure. Make comparisons among four different locations. Move the slider along the bottom to go back to various decades from 1950 on to view data. Switch tabs along the upper left between dashboard (contains map and graphs,) maps, or graphs. Click "More" to view Forecast, Reports, or Climate. Change the data between English measurements and metric along the top right of the site.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): climate (93), climate change (70), weather (205)
In the Classroom
Identify changes in average temperatures and precipitation. Compare forecasts and other data from the same location at different years or between more than one location. Identify trends, notice differences among other areas, and develop explanations for these differences. Research various factors that affect the climate.
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Water, Water Everywhere - National Center for Atmospheric Research
Grades
K to 5
2 Favorites
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Although the main emphasis of this site is to offer information to students about the water cycle, there is much more valuable information to be found about many aspects of ...more
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Although the main emphasis of this site is to offer information to students about the water cycle, there is much more valuable information to be found about many aspects of our atmosphere. Learn about the water cycle by clicking different portions of the image found on the page, these links lead to child-friendly information about that portion of the water cycle. For example, click on lakes to learn about how water gets in and out of lakes, who needs lakes, and other pertinent information. Find out about stuff in the sky to learn about cloud types, the sun, pollution, and more. Each month a fun fact is offered with interesting information related to water or the atmosphere. There are links to games and picture galleries; however, they take you off the site so be sure to check them out before allowing students to freely explore all parts of the website.
tag(s): atmosphere (29), pollution (65), rivers (24), water (132), water cycle (32), weather (205)
In the Classroom
Explore the site with your class on your interactive whiteboard or projector during units on the water cycle, clouds, weather, and/or climate. Create a link to the site on classroom computers - assign sections of the site to different students and have them create a multimedia presentation on information found. Have students create simple commercials using Plotagon, reviewed here, and share them using a tool such as SchoolTube, reviewed here. Choose the "Games" linked to the site to use as classroom centers. Share this site on your classroom newsletter or blog for students to explore at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Extreme Earth - Extreme Science
Grades
7 to 12
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This site offers a simple site (sub-page) from Extreme Science. Learn factual information about the geologic history of the earth. On the left side of the page, there is a ...more
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This site offers a simple site (sub-page) from Extreme Science. Learn factual information about the geologic history of the earth. On the left side of the page, there is a navigational list of topics that allows one to navigate between topics. The readings are fairly easy for early high school aged students and would work as a nice alternative to textbook readings. The hotlinks to extra information on specific terms and concepts are a very helpful and convenient touch. Be aware: there are some advertisements. Advise students not to click on the ads.
tag(s): amazon (9), animals (320), antarctica (29), arctic (46), earth (223), earthquakes (51), geology (78), plate tectonics (22), sun (69), tsunamis (18), volcanoes (67), weather (205)
In the Classroom
Use this site as an alternative to a textbook in a one to one laptop science class. Add the link to the classroom wiki as an informational resource for your students. Or, develop questions about the reading and use as a guided reading activity to help enhance reading across the curriculum activities. Have cooperative learning groups explore one of the specific topics and create multimedia presentations. Have students create online posters on paper or do it together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here. Have students use Thinglink, reviewed here to narrate a picture.
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